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RMAC Interim Commissioner Lexie Vernon sits down with College.town’s Anthony Grassi to dive into the RMAC Presidents Council’s position statement on the future of DII. Asked how DII can insulate itself from the “craziness in Division I,” Vernon states the division has been very reactive, in particular to the series of lawsuits facing the NCAA that are irrelevant to the reality for DII student-athletes. “So for us to have to react and change policy and override really core, fundamental things that are important to how we run our programs and how we're able to run our programs, the resources that we have to run our programs, is really concerning. So, I think it's about trying to draw a really bold line between the two subsets of the NCAA. Exactly what that looks like, I think we're curious to hear what others think around the country.” On the potential for the SCORE Act as a solution, Vernon is supportive of the protections against student-athletes being designated as employees, “but in terms of protections for student-athletes, it's really Division I centric and we see it as almost – I don't want to call it necessarily a bailout – but something that doesn't impact us, doesn't have a place. And in turn, that trickle-down that is going to happen is not necessarily going to be good for us in practice. […] We're worried about the legal precedent that it can set and then the trickle-down, that fallout that we would see at the Division II level, within the RMAC and how that impacts our day-to-day operations.” In conversations with legislators, Vernon acknowledges a disconnect exists in understanding how different the reality is outside of the Power 4 and DI, adding: “That's what we really hope to insert with starting these conversations and bring everybody a little bit closer to the middle for an understanding of  how we have to be proactive and how we can establish policy that's different from Division I and particularly those that have opted into the house settlement within our Power 4, Group of 5 institutions and continue to provide a really great experience for our student-athletes long, long into the future.” Tons more on the specifics of the position statement, including employment, eligibility, transfers and more. (link)

U.S. Congressman Russell Fry (R-SC) joins the Next Up with Adam Breneman podcast to advocate for the SCORE Act and says the “feedback has largely been good. And I think what we’ve done is we didn’t craft this out of nowhere. We had these thoughtful listening sessions where we listened to the players, we listened to the coaches and the families and the schools, and put this product together. And so, when you’re talking about it, everyone has probably components that they might want to tweak or adjust. And certainly as this bill progresses through, those are going to be ongoing. But everyone also recognizes the really big impact that college sports has and that we have to fix this. We have an obligation to do it now. It’s on an unsustainable path. Everyone understands that. But the components of the bill, when you talk about them individually with people, they love it.” Fry also remarks that “there are some in Congress that want the employee model. But they’re not listening to the people who have testified. They’re not listening to the college athletes themselves. And I think a lot of people understand that that’s a non-starter for many in Congress. But there are certain people that are pushing that. Most of the — I would say the beef – that I’ve heard about it to the extent that there is any is, ‘Hey, let’s tweak this over here. Let’s adjust this over here. We think that could be a better way.’ And, so you know, there really is an esprit de corps, if you will, of people who want to do the right thing. So there’s some really honest discussions that are taking place right now on what that looks like but we all want to fix this problem.” (link)

Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger with a SCORE Act update: “The Commissioners of the four HBCU athletic conferences sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus urging it to consider co-sponsoring the SCORE Act and supporting its passage on the House floor.” Dellenger’s X post includes a copy of the full letter. (link)

Former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo joins the Sports Wise podcast with Tulane Sports Law Director Gabe Feldman and explains that she stands by her 2021 memo asserting her position that student-athletes should be considered employees. “I felt strongly that I needed to get that position out there. And the NLRA covers just private sector institutions, so I wanted to make sure I was being transparent with both the athletes as well as with the schools and conferences and the NCAA and the like. The other piece to the memo was that I felt that if in fact folks were employees under the statute, then misclassifying them as something else would be an independent violation of the act. So that was the basic genesis behind me issuing the guidance.” Abruzzo also advocates for collective bargaining, which she views as “an opportunity for the athletes’ voices to be heard and for them to have a seat at the table and for them to be able to assist with development and application of rules that affect their daily lives. Not only compensation rules, but rules around health and safety, rules around educational opportunities, rules around grievances and arbitration, rules around discrimination and equitable or non-equitable treatment. And so those are non-economic areas, but they’re crucial that athletes have a seat at the table to discuss and help develop those rules that are affecting them. So everyone talks about the money, but they’re not talking about the athletes as a whole, as people who are being controlled in so many ways.” (link)

College Sports Communicators Executive Director Jason Yaman visited with Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fischer to discuss Yaman's role, his approach and vision for CSC and serving an industry that incorporates all levels of athletics. On communicating with members, ADs and others about the importance of what communicators do, Yaman remarked: “I think at the higher level, kind of to your point about the ADs, the commissioners, [it’s about] the value of the work … the value of this convention, right? Regardless of what’s going on in college athletics, we need to be here as a collective talking about it. The shifts … When I got started, everybody had to figure out how to run a website. Then it was how do we get our radio broadcast to go through the website. Then it was video, and then 15 years ago, it was social media and graphics. Now it’s AI. It’s a long way of saying, from my perspective, having been at it for almost 25 years, there’s always going to be a change somewhere down the line. I can’t tell you when. I can’t tell you what it’s going to be, but I can tell you that, every three to five years, I’ve seen something change. Now, for us with CSC, a lot of it’s AI generated. A lot of our partners and vendors are people that are now specialized in that. I’m a believer that it’s coming, if it’s not here already. Let’s get our arms around it. Let's be the experts in it. Let's kind of carve that out as our territory in this industry.” More from Yaman. (link) 

UC Merced names Stevenson (DIII) Men’s Basketball HC Gary Stewart for the same role leading the Bobcats. (link)

Coaches.wire…
➤ Chowan Men’s and Women’s Swimming HC James Cameron is no longer leading the Hawks. (link)
➤ College of Staten Island Women’s Soccer HC Alex Mendolia departs to become a senior performance analyst with the U.S. Soccer Federation. AC Joseph Odumewu will serve as Interim HC for the remainder of the season. (link)
➤ Upper Iowa Women’s Volleyball HC Jim Dietz resigns in his second season, citing personal reasons. AC Sarah Hull will serve as Interim HC. (link)
➤ Still consistent coaching staff movement across the industry. Check it all out in this morning's Coaches.wire. (link)

Quick Hits...

➤ Anderson and Texas A&M-Kingsville raised $181K and $136K, respectively, through their partnership with Hour-A-Thon. (link, link)

➤ Minnesota Duluth and Slippery Rock will kick off the next two football seasons in week 0. (link)

College and university provosts remain optimistic about what their institutions offer students, per Inside Higher Ed’s Emma Whitford, who writes that 99% of provosts responding to the Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers “report that their institution provides a quality undergraduate education.” In addition, “91% say they are glad they pursued administrative work, and 86 percent say they enjoy being a chief academic officer.” Conducted in June and July of this year and garnering 478 total responses, the survey “asked provosts for their thoughts on the rapidly changing federal policy landscape, the growing prominence of artificial intelligence, the importance of tenure and academic freedom, their faculty’s job satisfaction and mental health as well as their own, and more.” Over half (56%) reported a federal funding decrease at their institution during the second Trump administration, relatively more than the 46% that had noted a drop back in the spring, while 28% say their institution has experienced a cut between 5-10% and 12% report a cut of higher than 10%. In addition, 10% of provosts say their institutions have implemented hiring freezes and 74% are “very or extremely concerned” about potential changes to federal student aid programs under the current administration. More. (link)